On the Continent

What's working in European tech. Curated daily.

DNS / Core Internet Infrastructure

Emerging Alternatives

Overview

Cloudflare (US) and Google dominate public DNS resolution, CDN services, and DDoS protection globally. Most European internet traffic is routed through US-controlled infrastructure at some point. This gives US companies visibility into European internet traffic patterns and creates dependency on foreign infrastructure for internet availability.

DNS4EU launched as a fully operational EU-funded public DNS resolver in 2025, providing the first sovereign European alternative.

Why EU Sovereignty Matters

DNS is the phone book of the internet — it translates domain names to IP addresses for every web request. Whoever controls DNS resolution can monitor, filter, or redirect internet traffic. European reliance on US DNS providers means European browsing patterns are visible to US companies and potentially US government surveillance programs.

Key European Players

Initiative

EU-funded public DNS resolver, fully operational since 2025. Provides GDPR-compliant, privacy-first DNS resolution as a European alternative to Cloudflare and Google DNS.

Key Facts

DNS4EU
Fully operational since 2025
Features
Privacy-first, GDPR-compliant, EU-operated
Significance
First sovereign EU internet infrastructure service
Cloudflare/Google
Dominate global public DNS

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